Wall St. falls as investors cautious on trade; Intel slides

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 fell on Wednesday for the third day in a row as investors remained cautious about the latest developments on U.S.-China trade talks even after hopeful comments from the White House regarding an eventual agreement.

A late slide in shares of Intel Corp contributed to losses in the last half-hour of trading. Shares of the chipmaker fell 2.5% after the company’s outlook during its investor day presentation disappointed.

Wall Street had edged higher for much of the session after White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that the United States had received an indication from Beijing that China wants to make a trade deal. China’s lead negotiator, Vice Premier Liu He, is due to visit Washington on Thursday and Friday.

Still, the U.S. government said in its official journal that it would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25% on Friday. China’s commerce ministry later said it would have to take retaliatory measures if U.S. tariffs were raised.

The mixed tone of trade developments made it difficult for U.S. stocks to sustain their rally, investors said.

“The last 30 minutes lets you know that people are still leaning bearish mid-week,” said Michael Antonelli, market strategist at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.

Even as the S&P 500 rose in the afternoon, defensive sectors such as real estate and healthcare were among the index’s top gainers. The trade-sensitive industrial sector ended little changed, while Intel’s decline dragged down technology shares.

“It’s consistent with people being unsure about what’s actually going to come out of Washington this week,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at SunTrust Advisory Services in Atlanta.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 8, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.24 points, or 0.01%, to 25,967.33, the S&P 500 lost 4.63 points, or 0.16%, to 2,879.42 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 20.44 points, or 0.26%, to 7,943.32.

The benchmark S&P 500 is now 2.5% below its record high of 2,954.13 hit last week.

Shares of Walt Disney Co rose 1.2% ahead of its quarterly results. Disney was the top boost to the S&P 500.